High Roller
Day 3 Started
2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
High Roller
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$3,626,000
Entries
148
Level
26
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
5,000
Koon Leads, but Duhamel Has All the Momentum
Welcome to the final table of the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller. Up for grabs today is a first-place prize of $1,134,930 and there's a stacked group of players all left vying for it.
Leading the way into the final table with 1.646 million in chips is Jason Koon. He's trailed closely by Team PokerStars Pro and 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel. Although Koon may have the advantage chip-wise, Duhamel has a lot of momentum going into this final table thanks to an amazing PCA he's had thus far.
At first, the trip didn't start out as planned with Duhamel having to re-enter the $100,000 Super High Roller, but he turned his second bullet into a fourth-place finish for $313,600. From there, Duhamel went on to win the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $239,830 and make another final table in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo, coming in fifth for $17,990.
Another player at this final table to have a nice score earlier at this year's PCA was Michael Telker. He placed second to Team PokerStars Pro and 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe Cada in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $93,170.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isaac Haxton | 762,000 |
| 2 | Leonid Bilokur | 1,139,000 |
| 3 | Randy Lew | 197,000 |
| 4 | Jonathan Duhamel | 1,530,000 |
| 5 | Nicolas Fierro | 1,181,000 |
| 6 | Jason Koon | 1,646,000 |
| 7 | Michael Telker | 397,000 |
| 8 | Govert Metaal | 545,000 |
The final table will begin at 1:00 PM local time here in The Bahamas, but the live feed will kick off at 2:00 PM as will our coverage. Be sure to follow along then as we work our way towards a champion.
Seat 8: Govert Metaal -- 545,000
This is Govert Metaal's second time making the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller final table. Last year, Metaal maneuvered his way to a fifth-place finish worth $240,470. He'll be looking to best that effort this year, but will enter the final table sixth in chips with a little over half of the average. His finish in this event last year was the largest of his career, but Metaal's had a few big scores on record.
Last year, the Dutchman won a €1,000 side event at EPT Barcelona for €78,400. He's also placed second in a $5,000 side event at the Festa Al Lago in 2010 for $85,606 and sixth at The Big Event Main Event in Los Angeles in 2011 for $75,000.
Metaal has $809,371 in career tournament earnings and will eclipse the million dollar mark if he can get into the top five spots.
Seat 7: Michael Telker -- 397,000
Michael Telker will enter the final table second to last in chips, which means he'll have his work cut out for him. For most of Day 1 and Day 2, Telker flew under the radar until he started to amass chips near the money bubble and become a true threat. Once into the money, Telker was short, but found a timely double with pocket jacks against Terje Augdal to get right back in the mix.
The largest score on Telker's record is a third-place finish in the £1,000 No Limit Hold'em Turbo side event at the 2011 EPT London for £13,500. He also had a deep run at the 2010 EPT San Remo Main Event where he earned €10,500.
Telker has just $48,207 in live tournament earnings, which is less than double the buy-in for this event. He's also earning way more money than he's won for his entire live career, but we'll be looking to run his stack up in order to truly make a run at things.
Seat 6: Jason Koon -- 1,646,000
Leading the way into the final table is Jason Koon with 1.646 million in chips. He's not too far ahead of the 1.53 million for Jonathan Duhamel, but he is the man to catch.
On January 3, Koon tweeted, "Headed to the Bahamas on Friday for PCA. Aussie Millions after that and then to Cyprus. EPT's, WPT's, and WSOP Follow. '12 is my year. Leggo." So far, so good for his 2012, as it's kicked off with a bang making this elite final table.
Koon, 26, is no stranger to big buy-in events, but he's never cashed in anything above a $10,000 buy-in (which is still pretty hefty). Since 2008 Koon has been grinding the tournament circuit, racking up $427,251 of prize money in the process. His largest live score came in October of 2010 when he placed fourth in the World Poker Tour Festa Al Lago at the Bellagio in Las Vegas for $225,680. Koon and the other seven players have locked up a minimum of $108,780 for making this final table, meaning he'll be adding plenty more to those lifetime tournament earnings.
Originally from Weston, West Virginia, Koon now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Seat 5: Nicolas Fierro -- 1,181,000
Prior to the 2011 World Series of Poker, Nicolas Fierro was barely a blip on the PokerNews' radar, but then he came out of nowhere. First, Fierro took third in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout at the WSOP for $198,096. He followed that deep run up with one in the WSOP Main Event where he finished 34th for $242,636.
Prior to those two scores, Fierro had $122,844 in live tournament earnings on record. He even cashed in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event back in 2010. After his successful summer, Fierro has gone on to win the $4,700 No-Limit Hold'em event at the Latin American Poker Tour IV Punta del Este/Americas Cup of Poker and also make a WSOP Europe final table. His final table run in Cannes saw him finish in third place and earn €53,426.
Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel -- 1,530,000
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
To say that Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel is having an amazing PCA would be an understatement. The 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champion has played in five events, making four final tables and cashing for at least $680,200. Duhamel final tabled the $100,000 Super High Roller event, finishing fourth when fellow Team PokerSatrs Pro Viktor Blom called his all in with a flush draw on the flop, and hit said flush on the turn.
Unlike some WSOP Main Event champions, Duhamel doesn’t take the role of poker ambassador lightly. He has already committed to playing the $1 Million Big One for One Drop at the 2012 WSOP, and urges other world champions to follow suit. Duhamel has continued to perform on the felt as well, winning the High Roller at EPT Deauville in 2011 for $272,209.
Duhamel enters the final table second in chips, and with the eyes on his prize.
Seat 3: Randy “nanonoko” Lew -- 197,000
PokerStars Team Online member Randy “nanonoko” Lew has had a busy PCA. True, this is the only tournament he’s cashed in, but last Sunday, he set a Guinness World record for the most poker hands played in an eight-hour span, playing 23,493 hands and profiting $7.65. Today, he’s guaranteed to profit over $83,000, and could profit as much as $1.1 million with a victory.
Lew, who is known for his skills on the virtual felt, made his first big splash on the actual felt last November, winning the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Maccau Main Event for $484,617. He also finished 10th at the Aussie Millions last year, banking $98,902.
Like Haxton, Lew was short coming in to Day 2 of the High Roller. In fact, he had the shortest stack, but he doubled through Chris McClung in the first level of play. Lew floated in the middle of the pack for most of the day, but then doubled the aforementioned Yunis during the last hour of play. Lew is once again the shortstack at the table, but he’s proved that he has stamina and staying power.
Seat 2: Leonid Bilokur -- 1,139,000
Leonid Bilokur cashed in seven events in 2011, including the World Cup of Poker VII here at the Atlantis where he and Team Ukraine finished third. Bilokur has racked up $370,609 in career tournament earnings, and his biggest cash was in a €2,000 no limit hold’em event in Berlin, where he finished first for €174,000 ($236,019). Bilokur has had recent success on both the European Poker Tour and the World Poker Tour, cashing in EPT Prague and WPT Prague in December.
Bilokur started day Day 2 of the High Roller with a double through Andrew Lichtenberger, then treaded water all day until he played a massive pot with Nick Yunis. After a series of raises, Bilokur five-bet shoved for over half of a million chips with 
, and Yunis called with 
. Bilokur held, and now has over a million chips.
Seat 1: Isaac Haxton -- 762,000
With over $3.6 million in career tournament earnings, Isaac Haxton ranks 118th on the all-time money list. His biggest cash came at the 2009 World Series of Poker, where he finished second to Vitaly Lunkin in the $40,000 no limit hold’em event for $1.16 million. Haxton famously used his “one time” at the final table, binking two pair on the river in this hand. Haxton has had success at the PCA as well – he finished second to Ryan Daut in the 2007 PCA Main Event, taking home $861,789 for his efforts.
Haxton enters the final table fifth in chips, and that’s remarkable considering he was second-to-last in chips entering Day 2. By our count, Haxton doubled three times during the day, including this hand where Haxton three-bet shoved with 
, and Nicolas Chouity, the original raiser, called with 
. The 
flop gave Haxton a set, and he held as the turn and river both bricked.
Haxton is dangerous now that he has chips, and is looking to add a second win and a second million-dollar cash to his résumé.